


Tell Me a Beautiful Lie

by MiniRaven



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Fluff and Angst, M/M, One Shot, Pining, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sad Ending, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-17 19:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11857704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniRaven/pseuds/MiniRaven
Summary: Post Civil War, Tony wakes up in his penthouse with Steve in his bed. But it's not what it seems.Dreams may come true, but not always for the better. Tony knows how this fairy tale goes and it does not have a happy ending.





	Tell Me a Beautiful Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Veldeia for the beautiful beta! Love you <3

Tony woke up to the feeling of large fingers carding through his short hair. Worn finger pads covered in scars ran across the side of Tony’s head revealing the dark grey roots Tony had yet to dye brown. The stress from negotiating the accords hadn’t done any favors for Tony’s appearance and neither did dealing with General Ross on a daily basis.

But this, Tony could get used to this. He exhaled, a low hum reverberating deep in his chest. Everything from his lips down to his legs felt heavy. He was so tired. Tony wanted to bat the hand away and hit the snooze on his alarm, but a familiar voice quickly dismissed the thought.

“Morning beautiful,” the deep voice said, thick and heavy like a dusty attic.

Slowly, Tony opened his sleepy eyes. His vision was a bit blurry and out of focus, but he would've recognized the pale outline and those wide shoulders anywhere.

“Moring love,” Tony murmured as his heart fluttered in his chest. Tony had always wondered what it would feel like to greet Steve first thing in the morning. Now, he knew. And it was something Tony wished he would never be without.

Steve shifted his body up on his elbow. The thin cotton sheet slipped off his body like silk and pooled around his waist. “You sleep okay last night?” he asked. The sparse blond hairs across his bare chest were almost invisible in the dark blue light of the early morning.

Tony nodded as he slowly stretched his arms above his head like a cat. “Better than I have in a long time.”

“Because I’m here?”

Tony smiled at his beloved, but his heart did not thrum with joy. He reached up and ran the back of his fingers along Steve’s jaw line. The barely visible blond stubble tickled Tony’s skin. It almost made him forget that all this wasn’t real. “Yeah,” he choked out.

The skin around Steve’s eyes crinkled as he grinned. Steve’s eyes lit up with a peaceful bliss Tony hadn’t seen in years. Tony had almost forgotten Steve was capable of showing such happiness in a single smile. “I’m glad,” the magical illusion whispered. Steve leaned over and held Tony down on the bed with one hand. He closed his eyes and pressed a warm kiss against Tony’s lips.

Tony’s body relaxed under Steve’s gentle touch. As Steve pulled away, Tony wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck and pulled the man back into another kiss. He chased after the brief feeling, mouth opening under Steve’s lips. Warm tongues, hard teeth, the burn of rough hair against smooth skin, Tony wanted to drown in this feeling.

“Morning breath,” Tony murmured in the brief moments between kisses. “You should brush your teeth.”

Steve hummed in agreement. But instead of offering up some witty banter, Steve said, “I should go. The sun will be rising any minute and you said you didn’t want to see me vanish.”

And just like that, the moment was lost. “Right, the spell,” he said with a sobering sigh.

The day before, Tony had saved a budding warlock from being crushed by a semi-truck. The warlock had insisted he repay Tony’s kindness by granting him a wish, but Tony had refused. Tony wanted nothing to do with magic, but the warlock couldn’t be convinced to let things be. Hence a magical version of Steve appearing in Tony’s bedroom willing to pamper and praise Tony just like in one of his fantasies.

Tony was scandalized at first, but never let it be said that he didn’t take advantage of a damn good opportunity when he saw it. Sure, it may seem a bit weird hooking up with a magical version of Steve without the original's consent, but who would say anything about Tony’s lack of judgment? Certainly not this fantasy version of Steve, and Tony would die before he ever let anyone in on the secret.

Steve had said in advance that he would only last until morning, but Tony had been secretly praying that the night would never end.

Too bad his prayers never came true.

Steve offered Tony a guilty smile as he  slipped  out of bed. He padded across the carpeted floor, quiet like a spy.

Tony watched with unwavering eyes as Steve bent over to gather up his clothes. He stared longingly at Steve’s back, memorizing how the bare skin looked as the first rays of sunlight filtered into the room. He watched the perfect sculpture of Steve’s ass disappear beneath white briefs and dark blue jeans. And he mourned as beautifully defined back muscles were covered under a plaid shirt and heavy jacket.

“What?” Steve said with a joking smile when he noticed Tony watching his every move. “See something you like?”

“I see a lot of things that I like. Too bad it has to be covered up,” Tony said, pulling his knees up to his chin.

Steve chuckled as he sauntered back to Tony’s side. “You saw plenty of them last night,” Steve murmured. With gentle fingers, he lifted Tony’s chin up and kissed the trembling lips.

Tony closed his eyes. He had been denying his true feelings for so long, it was hard not to slip back into the beautiful dream. “I’m greedy like that. I want to see more.”

Steve nodded, but he didn’t give Tony the response he wanted. Steve slowly pulled his hand away and said with a strained smile Tony didn’t have to interpret, “I have to go.”

As Steve’s radiant heat left and the cold settled back onto Tony’s skin, he reached for the most pitiful excuse he could think of. “Before you leave, can you pick out something for me to wear?” Tony asked.

Steve’s hand froze on the doorknob. At first, Tony thought the apparition didn’t hear him. Then, Steve turned around and Tony’s heart skipped a beat. “Of course,” Steve said.

Without batting an eye, Steve walked over and opened the door to Tony’s large walk-in closet. He rummaged around for a bit, finally settling on something casual but still professional. Steve proudly presented an artsy graphic t-shirt, a navy blazer, and black wash jeans alongside hideous argyle socks and high-top shoes Tony had forgotten he owned. “What do you think of this?”

Tony felt like he was about to melt into a pile of goo all over the sheets. “I love it.”

Steve covered his mouth with the clothes hangers, trying to hide his embarrassed chuckle. “But so many of the patterns clash. Do you like it for the sole reason that I picked it out?”

“Yes,” Tony said, ignoring the stupid amount of blind adoration in his voice. Even if Steve picked out something as ridiculous as the neon tracksuit that should have died in the 80’s, Tony wouldn’t have batted an eye and would've worn the outfit with pride.

Tony  slipped out from between the covers and made his way over to the dreamy captain. He turned to Steve and held his arms out like a dress up doll. “Can you dress me?” Tony asked, giving Steve the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster.

Steve shook his head at the request, but his hands were already removing the shirt and pants off their hangers. “Why? I know you can dress yourself.”

“I know. But I can do that any day. This time, I want you to dress me.”

“Like a Ken doll?”

“If that comparison makes you happy, yes, like a Ken doll.”

Steve snorted, but he did as Tony asked. He rolled the hem of the t-shirt up to the neckline, making sure the sleeves poked out at either end. Steve slipped the shirt over Tony’s head like it was a heavy diamond necklace meant only to be worn by a queen.

“Why are you smiling?” asked Tony.

“I’m not sure myself,” said Steve with a nervous laugh as he moved Tony’s arms through the holes of the t-shirt. “I just really think you’re cute. It’s like I’m wrapping you in a warm blanket. Except instead of a blanket, it’s clothes.”

“It’s better than a blanket,” said Tony as Steve rolled the hem of the shirt down to his waist. “When you leave, they’ll still be something you left behind. I don’t know if the bed will smell like you, but even if you’re gone, I still have these clothes to remind me that you were here.”

Steve’s eyes softened. The sharp blue of Steve’s irises turned dark as if the ice in his soul was melting. “Never realized you were such a romantic,” Steve said. He swung the blazer behind Tony’s back. Tony’s brown bed head hair was sandwiched between two slices of serum enhanced muscles.

Tony closed his eyes. The weight of the blazer felt good on his shoulders. The weight grounded him in the moment. None of this was real. But it felt real, and that was all that mattered . “When I only have one night with you, I’ll be anything I damn well please.”

The mirage hummed with approval. He knelt down like a knight and held the pants open. With grace a ballerina would envy, Tony stepped into the dark wash pants. First his right leg, then his left leg. Steve shimmied the fabric up over his ass and hips until the material properly hugged Tony’s frame in all the right places. He zipped up the front, set the steel clasp in the buttonhole, and sealed the deal with a reverent kiss a few inches above Tony’s cock.

Without a word, Steve pulled up one of the desk chairs and motioned for Tony to sit down. Tony glided over to the chair and sat down with a big flourish as if he was a princess. Steve just chuckled.

Steve rolled the neck of a sock down in his hands until only the toes stuck out at the bottom. Then, he slid the argyle sock up Tony’s foot. First the left foot, then the right foot. Next, he unlaced the shoes and guided Tony’s foot into the dark leather footwear like Tony was Cinderella. After he tied up the white laces of the shoe, Steve ran reverent fingers along the outside of Tony’s foot.

“Beautiful,” he murmured.

Steve looked up at Tony's dark blue eyes filled with unconditional love, and something inside Tony broke. He was trying so hard to make this a happy memory, but weight of his wants was finally too much to bear alone. “I don’t want you to go,” Tony said. His voice cracked as tears began to roll down his cheeks. He tried to contain his sobbing, but it just devolved into desperate gasps as his body quivered like a leaf fighting the fall wind.

Steve pushed a stray hair away from Tony’s face and wiped away a single tear with his thumb. “I know,” Steve whispered. Steve stood up and pressed a delicate kiss to Tony’s lips. Tony hummed, leaning into Steve’s heat.

When he felt the weight of Steve’s lips began to fade, Tony’s hands immediately shot up. Tony caught Steve’s head between his hands and pulled the magical mirage back down to his level, putting everything he felt for Steve into the kiss. The happiness Tony felt every time Steve called his name, the joy, the laughter Tony had to stifle so Steve wouldn’t notice Tony’s affections, the sadness, the longing, the desire to be possessive and monopolize Steve’s time, the guilt from allowing himself to dream.

By the time Tony was done, he was breathless. He pulled Steve close, offering one last desperate plea that the love of his life would never leave. “Why do you have to go.” Tony panted, fighting back the wave of tears and emotions as he said what might be his last honest goodbye to the man he loved. “Is there any way I can see you again?”

“I … I don’t know,” Steve said. “I don’t know how the magic works.”

“Then, if I can never see you again, I want you to lie to me,” Tony whispered, pressing a desperate kiss along Steve’s jaw. “Tell me a beautiful lie so I have some hope that things will get better.”

Steve let out a heavy sigh as he rubbed large circles on Tony’s back. “I can’t do that to you Tony. I’ll break your heart.”

Tony shook his head into Steve’s shoulder like a crab burying itself into wet sand as the ocean returned to low tide. “It’s okay. My heart is already broken. There is nothing you can say that would make it hurt any more than it already does.”

“But-”

“Please,” begged Tony. “Please lie to me.”

Tony felt Steve’s shoulders sag as he let out a heavy breath. “I won’t see you, but you’ll see me within the next few months. It’ll just be a mark on a wall or a shadow in a newspaper, but you’ll see me. Come winter, I’ll accidently slip up and someone will catch me on camera. It won’t be good. Security footage is always blurry, but you’ll take one look at it and know it’s me.”

Tony shook his head. “That’s too vague. Give me something more concrete. I don’t want glimpses of your shadow in the background. I want to see you. I want to see your face. I want to know that you’re okay.”

“Then by your next birthday,” Steve whispered into Tony’s ear like a prayer. “I’ll be back in time for your next birthday. I don’t want to go another year without being able to tell you ‘happy birthday’ in person.”

“Promise?”

Steve placed a gentle peck on Tony’s temple. “I promise.”

Tony let out an uneasy sigh. Yes, it was a lie, but after everything Tony had been through, it would be a good enough dream to entertain when nightmare realities plagued his days.

Steve wiped a stray tear across Tony’s cheekbone and for a minute, Tony almost believed that Steve cared. “Show me to the door?”

Tony’s heart dropped out of his chest. He wanted to cry but instead he swallowed his pride, nodded, and led Steve to the elevator that would take him back down to the streets of reality.

“I love you. You know that, right?” said Tony. He kept his eyes on the door unable to look at his fading lover. “Even on the worst days when Ross sends me report after report about all the shit you’ve done and it’s so easy to hate your guts, I can’t find the strength to stop loving you.”

Steve nodded. “I know.”

As the door to the elevator opened with a hiss, Tony turned to Steve and said, “Steve, be honest with me. Do you love me? Did you ever love me?”

The question caught Steve off guard. “I- I can’t answer that. I don’t want to leave you with tears I can’t wipe away.”

“Please,” said Tony, holding onto Steve’s hand like it was his last lifeline. “I know I’ve asked a lot of you over the past few hours, but please. I need to know.”

Steve’s gaze shifted down. His bright eyes dimmed and his mouth straightened into a hard line.

Tony sighed. He turned around and pressed a button to hold the door open. Stupid Tony. He knew the answer to the question before he even asked it. Why did he even try?

Steve didn’t even look up as he walked into the white light of the elevator car.

As Tony released the button, Steve spoke.

“I do,” Steve said. Tony’s heart skipped a beat. He looked up and saw a bright sincerity in Steve’s blue eyes.

“Maybe not from the moment I saw you,” Steve admitted. “And maybe not the second time I saw you, but I do love you Tony. I don’t think I could ever stop.”

Tony tried to take a deep breath, but all that came out were short gasps. Steve loved him? Steve really loved him? Fuck this all being a dream, Steve really loved him!

Without thinking, Tony pushed himself up on his toes and kissed Steve for what might be the last time. “I love you Steve. I love you so much.”

Tony kissed Steve with all his strength until he felt light headed. He pulled back just in time to see the strong edges of Steve’s figure begin to soften and fade.

Tony stepped back from the elevator seconds before the door slid shut and separated them. The gears silently whirled to life as the dream slipped quietly down the hollow shaft and away from Tony’s penthouse. Tony closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the door. He listened as the sound of the car slowly faded away.

Streams of sunlight slipped across the floor as the cold loneliness of reality began to set in. Tony kept his eyes closed as he desperately hung onto the warmth of the dream. He wanted to remember Steve’s beautiful smile after he said, ‘I love you,” even if it was all just an elaborate fantasy.

“I love you,” Tony whispered as Steve’s scent faded from the room.

“I love you,” he said, remembering the heat from Steve’s fingers and feeling it disappear with each passing second.

“Boss,” Friday’s voice crackled to life with the rising sun. “Ms. Potts is here to see you. She says it’s an emergency.”

Tony nodded. But before he opened his eyes and returned to his responsibilities, leaving the dream behind, he pressed one last kiss on the door. The same place where Steve lips would have been if he was on the other side. “I love you, Steve.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm currently having a hard time writing, so this was just a little self indulgent something to get me in the habit of producing again.


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